Day after thoughts

The Raiders didn’t break through as coach Tom Cable hoped against the Redskins on Sunday.

Instead, they broke down in every way imaginable once quarterback JaMarcus Russell took over for injured starter Bruce Gradkowski, who tore one MCL and partially tore the other in a 34-13 loss.

Plenty not to like about how this went down, with enough problems with Gradkowski in the game to indicate all is not turned around. Here goes …

** Running back Michael Bush not playing a single offensive snap. Cable has said all season they need all three running backs. Now, he is all but dropped Bush from the mix.

The problem seems to be traced to the Nov. 22 victory over the Bengals. Bush lost a fumble early in the third quarter. At that point, he led the team with 81 carries for 377 yards. In the three games since, he’s had four carries for 9 yards.

He couldn’t even get on the field when Justin Fargas was getting nowhere (nine carries, 21 yards, one fumble). It’s hard to imagine the Raiders had no use for Bush on a day their running backs had 17 carries for 42 yards against a 21st-ranked defense playing without Albert Haynesworth.

Cable’s postgame reasoning was Darren McFadden was used a lot as a receiver, so they went with McFadden and Fargas. Not sure why Bush couldn’t have been the back, or why he couldn’t play when McFadden wasn’t a wideout.

** Left tackle Mario Henderson against a rookie.

Henderson had the worst game of his career, allowing four sacks — two to rookie Brian Orakpo. Henderson also got beat by Orakpo on the play where he knocked Gradkowski out of the game just before halftime.

Don’t blame Russell’s lack of pocket presence for this bad game. Henderson was getting beat in the first half and twice let Russell get hit the instant he finished his drops.

** Too many missed sacks on a blitz.

Trevor Scott, Kirk Morrison and Mike Mitchell all got to quarterback Jason Campbell unblocked on blitzes. They all swung and missed. Campbell scrambled for 8 and 13 yards on a single drive. Only Mitchell’s missed sack was followed by a loss on the play.

Hiram Eugene was called for a false start, then was flagged 15 yards for “interfering with the returner’s opportunity to make the catch” on a Raiders punt inside the first half’s 2-minute warning.

The second was questionable at best, but special teams coach John Fassel could not afford to add a second 15-yard penalty arguing his way to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That’s 35 yards of field position lost on a single punt, making it too easy for the Redskins to score a touchdown for a 17-10 lead in four plays.

** Tom Cable’s slow trigger at the end of the first half.

With seconds remaining, Cable sent the field goal unit on the field — with the play clock down to 14 — to attempt an NFL-record 66-yard field goal.

The snap was rushed as the clock went from “1” to “0.” Janikowski hit it wrong and fell well short. Later, he made a 54-yard field goal with at least 12 yards to spare going in the same direction. On that one, he had time to get set and do it the right way.

If Cable sent him out there immediately, he had a much better chance of making the kick.

Making matters worse, no one on the Raiders except Tony Stewart seemed ready for the possibility of a return, which teams can do if they catch a missed field goal. Fred Smoot caught the ball in the end zone and raced 64 yards before Janikowski leaped and forced him into Mario Henderson.

** JaMarcus Russell.

The offensive line did nothing to help him, but he clearly did not inspire them in the least.

On his first drive, he burned a timeout when Louis Murphy went into motion — as if he didn’t understand what was going on (I’ll ask Cable what happened later).

If he ever senses the six sacks coming, Russell never acted like it. No stepping up in the pocket, he twice turned into a sack. His midfield pick behind Chaz Schilens was the game killer, coming one play after the Redskins took a 24-13 lead. Four plays later, it was 31-13 against a deflated defense that played like it knew an 11-point lead was too big.

Once again, Russell shied away from the receivers and focused on the tight ends. Nine of his 16 throws were to Zach Miller or Brandon Myers (he completed 6 of 9 for 41 yards). He threw one incompletion pass and an 8-yarder to receiver Louis Murphy, one 10-yard pass to receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins and two throws to receiver Chaz Schilens — a 5-yard pass and an interception.

Remember what Cable said about Russell not getting the receivers involved? That’s what he means.

There was some good, too. Thirteen blitzes, Darren McFadden finally used as a wideout, Johnnie Lee Higgins getting up from a huge hit for the second straight week, Nnamdi Asomugha making a physical hit on a corner blitz — injuring his forearm — then coming back in the game in the fourth quarter because strong safety Tyvon Branch was having to play cornerback.

Too bad Gradkowski didn’t get to finish. This had fourth-quarter rally written all over it.